This invention relates to a method and apparatus for winding resin impregnated fibers upon a mandrel, where a heated guide is employed to assist in the winding operation.
It is known to fabricate fiber reinforced articles by winding multiple tows of resin impregnated fibers upon a mandrel in a series of superimposed layers. In a typical winding procedure, the mandrel is rotated about its axis and a "payout" head moves in a reciprocating path along a given length of the mandrel and guides the multiple tows onto the mandrel.
It is important that the tows as delivered to the mandrel are aligned in a side-by-side relationship for optimum quality and strength of the resulting wound article. Although prior techniques have addressed this problem with some success, further improvement would be desirable.